Green is for the Money, Gold is for the...MP3? (Blog Prompt #4)

Ahh...the music industry, the biggest pimp game since...well...the pimp game.  Selling sound, fricken genius!  It couldn't last forever, could it?  It can if these big time execs are willing to adapt to this new age.  Execs look at the Internet as a threat, but it could be a gold mine.  I believe it will, but it will be a slow process and be done by genre.  I think hip-hop/urban music has already adapted to the change, even before the Internet explosion.  With mainstream labels initially shying away from signing hip-hop acts, a lot of artists had to learn how to cut out the middle man and market themselves without the backing of a major label, Russell Simmons' Def Jam Records, Eric "Eazy E" Wright's Ruthless Records, or Marion "Suge" Knight's Death Row Records for example. 

The music industry is just going to have to learn how to skim money from their artists without the guise of packaging and marketing costs.  Executives think the Internet is bad because it will cost them old money, when in actuality they could make new money without the burden of the before mentioned costs.  You look at the Justin Beiber craze, that just snuck up on us it seemed and initially with virtually no corporate backing.  I actually read an article about how Percy "Romeo" Miller Jr. is converting his father's, Percy "Master P" Miller Sr., No Limit Record label into a fully digital label, releasing only music in the digital format, no hard copy.  I think that is refreshing to watch someone turn with the curve instead of against it.  The possibilities are endless.  There are even websites (Kickstarter and Sellaband) that allows fans to donate money on line to help their favorite artists produce albums, Public Enemy brought one of these sites notoriety when they produced an album through them a couple years ago.  How cool is that?  You can figure out the exact demand for your product down to the penny.

There's Gotta Be Something Else On

I'm tired of people making events out of silly television shows, especially shows that aren't good.  Here is my list of the top five most overrated shows on television that people (for some reason) go ga-ga over.

5. "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" (FX)

Maybe I didn't give it a full chance.  Maybe it was over hyped.  I tried it, didn't think it was that funny.  Quirky humor only works for me when it is well written. (see "Arrested Development")

4. "Sons of Anarchy" (FX)

What if the "Sopranos" had a one-night-stand with "American Chopper"...and they had a baby...which they dropped on its head...and shook...and fed lead paint chips to.  Then you would get "Sons of Anarchy." 



3. "How I Met Your Mother" (CBS)

Doogie Howser + The band camp girl from "American Pie" + a laugh track = a hit???  Only on CBS I guess. (Don't get me started on the "CSI" franchise)

2. "Glee" (FOX)

Where do I start.  The producers are genius, because they can hide the fact that each episode is plot deficient by having these annoying kids sing pop songs every five minutes.  Its just an attempt to be an edgy version of Disney's "High School Musical."

Drum roll please.....

1.) "Jersey Shore" (MTV)

What can I say that hasn't already been said?  Watching "Jersey Shore" is like eating just the skin from KFC's extra crispy chicken, nothing good can come from it.  I have never watched an episode, but I'm pretty sure I can tell you the plot to 99.9% of the episodes.  Wake up, set up conflict, get ready to go out, go out, get drunk, dance, get more drunk, meet some girls that REALLY want to be on television (by any means necessary)...I think you get it.  Throw in some verbal spats, physical conflicts, sex, hair product and some corny catch phrases that will sadly catch on, and we have the phenomena that is "Jersey Shore."  The worst part is, these people are now rich.  Ignorance really is bliss.  I'd rather alternate between Jerry Springer and Maury.

Words With (All Your) Friends

If you like Scrabble, and if you like your mobile device, and if you like playing Scrabble-like games on your mobile device, then "Words With Friends" is the game for you.  I have played it on my iPhone for over a year, and now it is available on the Android operating system, so those of you with lesser phones than Apple's can get in on the fun.  Anyone want a quick tutorial on how to get embarrassed in this game my user name is "jp915."

Generation TEXT (Blog Prompt #3)

I agree that the new forms of electronic media have dominated the way kids communicate and interact now.  What kid isn't texting, tweeting, and Facebooking right from the palm of their hands nowadays. I'm here to say, as a parent, to other parents...IT'S OK!  Yes there are predators out there, but they were there before. They just didn't appear after the advent of the Internet, they were out there lurking in their window-less conversion vans.  Parents shouldn't worry what their kids are doing online, everything they are doing is natural.  Yes, they are looking at porn.  Yes, they are using bad language with their friends.  Just like you did as a kid, but the only difference is the bad influences were harder to get into your parents house. I think the best thing a parent can do is to accept the fact that your child will run across things online that you don't want them to see, but...here's the kicker...sit down and explain to them why the behavior is wrong and what it actually represents.  It's all entertainment.  I know it might sound revolutionary, but actually talking with kids might deter some of the behavior.  Your son might skip past that porn site if it recalls memories of having "the talk" with his mother. 

The only drawback I can see from the electronic age's influence on today's youth is the fact that they now communicate within 160 characters or less.  You have endless room to write when composing an email, use full words.  Spell out "you" instead of "u."  Write "are" instead of "r" when you aren't texting.  My wife teaches 7th grade math and graded a paper that had "IDK" as one of the answers.  I can accept "i don't know" but when you are too lazy to even spell it out...c'mon!

Extra Credit...Perhaps?

I am at a loss for blogging inspiration, so I will use this time to brown-nose and get some brownie points with the professor.  Knowing that Prof. Macek is a fan of classic punk music, I would like to take the time to wish Johnny Rotten (John Joseph Lydon) a happy birthday today.  Johnny Rotten was the lead singer for the legendary punk group The Sex Pistols he is 55 years old today.  He has made recent news for expressing his distaste for, one of my favorites, Jay-Z.  We agree to disagree, but happy birthday nonetheless.

Doin' It Big

Even though it caused me to miss "Modern Family", President Obama's S.O.T.U. (that's State of the Union for the un-hip) address wasn't half bad.  The fact that the theme of his speech was "We do big things!" (I was waiting for him to throw up the diamond sign at the end of the speech a la Jay-Z) was entertaining, and yet refreshingly different from other S.O.T.U. addresses.  Instead of focusing on political jargon (health care, taxes, etc...), the President seemed to point ahead to what really matters: innovation.  He even mentioned Google and Facebook.  I think its good to see a leader that realizes that the world has changed, and the way our fore fathers did things will not accomplish much in this new world. 

"That’s what Americans have done for over 200 years: reinvented ourselves...We’re issuing a challenge. We’re telling America’s scientists and engineers that if they assemble teams of the best minds in their fields, and focus on the hardest problems in clean energy, we’ll fund the Apollo projects of our time."

Hopefully, quotes like that are more than just ploys to get young voters in the 2012 election, but promises...only time will tell.

Obama Interruptions

Wow, has it been a week already? I guess I lost the groove, time to pull the rip cord.  Well it's that time of year again, time for the Prez to give a lengthy speech about all the things he would like to change, but realistically can't, and in doing so, messing up my television viewing schedule.  "Modern Family" is supposed to come on tonight, but it won't because Obama has to rehash the incidents of Tucson, rehash the Health Care repeal attempt, and lay down the foundation for his re-election bid next year.  I guess I have no other options but to read Dr. Macek's assigned readings.  Nope, thank god for ESPN!

Man of the Year???

I know I'm a few weeks off, but Time Magazine named Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg their Man (excuse me, Person...so un-PC of me) of the Year for 2010.  Since this is a course that studies "new media" I thought it would be relevant to blog about it.  I find this odd that the creator of the on-line "poke" will get mentioned in the same breath as Ghandi, FDR, and MLK (we celebrate his birthday today, making this post double relevant).  Is that how highly we regard digital distractions such as Facebook?  Time goes on to say that he won because he is responsible for "connecting more than half a billion people and mapping the social relations among them, for creating a new system of exchanging information and for changing how we live our lives."  Hmmm...are online networking and relationships placed above actual human interaction?  Should we really celebrate a man that may have brought an end to people having "actual" friends?  I say no to all of these questions, yet I can't really think of anyone who really deserved it.  Maybe the workers who worked tirelessly to free the trapped Chilean miners, or the volunteers who helped in Haiti after the earthquake.  There is really no "one" person who was that special in 2010, I guess.  It looks like our fears are correct, computers are slowly taking the place of human beings, now they are winning Man (sorry)...Person of the Year awards.

Hoodwinked and Bam-Google'd? (Blog Prompt #2)

Am I addicted to Google?  Probably, maybe, more than likely.  I don't see anything wrong with it though.  I think Google has done its job as a company.  It has created a brand that has become synonymous with the product it creates.  Its no different from what what Coke has done with soft drinks, or Xerox has done with copy machines.  Nobody says "I'll take a soda" they say "get me a Coke."  Whens the last time someone has asked you to copy a document?  Instead they would say "Xerox this this for me."  Now you don't "Internet search" anything, you Google it.  I'm fine with it, it's a fun word to say.  As far as them being too powerful, I would have to say that is yet to be seen, as of right now I see them only as a forever expanding, very large company with what seems to be endless resources.  Yahoo! is still making money, they used to be the top dog.  There will always be something that comes along and improves on and becomes more successful than its predecessor.  Look at Myspace, at one time they were the end all for all social networking sites.  Along came Facebook with a few modifications and has dominated the game ever since.  How different are the two, really?  And know it seems that Twitter is taking some of Facebook's thunder, at least Facebook has allowed the tweets to function through Facebook. 

Every era there is a corporation that seems to monopolize an industry until its competitors figure out what they are doing and how to combat them.  You had the railroad companies, telephone companies, and more recently Clear Channel monopolizing the radio (basically).  I wouldn't say I or we have become too dependant on Google, personally I don't really prefer one search engine over the other, I don't even check to see which one I'm using.  It could be Bing, Yahoo, or anything else as my default search engine, I just like to say "Google."  Now if you ask me have we become to dependant on new media and the Internet as a whole, I would have to give a deafening yes...but that's a whole other blog post.

Twitter Misquotes

I always thought it was funny when famous people and athletes claimed they were misquoted in news publications.  I remember years ago when a former NBA all-star claimed he was misquoted in his autobiography...he wrote the book himself (or at least helped a little bit).  In this world of "new media" people often become their own journalists reporting on their lives.  You can interview yourself, and release statements without a pricey publicist.  You can tell your whole life story (160 characters at a time) on Twitter, and this form of expression has been adopted by many celebrities and athletes. 

The question now is, since Twitter is pretty much a first-person communication device, is it still possible to get misquoted?  Miami Heat's LeBron James says yes.

Earlier this week, LeBron's former team, the Cleveland Cavaliers received a 55 point beat down by the Los Angeles.  During the game LeBron tweeted this, "Karma is a b****.. Gets you every time. Its not good to wish bad on anybody. God sees everything!" As harsh (and ridiculous, like God watches the NBA) as it sounded, it made sense.  Everybody knows there is no love lost between LeBron and the Cavs.  The next day LeBron says he didn't tweet that, and that someone else was responsible for writing that, even though Twitter confirmed the tweet's authenticity.  Did King James misquote himself?  Is that possible.  I'm not buying it, I call B.S.  What do you think?

Feast of Failure

Another fact about me is that I am a huge hip-hop fan.  Not just any hip-hip, I'm talking about HIP-HOP.  I consider myself a purist.  None of that "shake your leg, rub your tummy, and left hand red" dance stuff for me, I need lyrics...substance.  I stay loyal to the artists that stay loyal to me, and am always looking for new artists with something of relevance to share with the world.  Two artists that I follow are Jay-Z and Kanye West (look past his antics and listen to his music, the world forgave R. Kelly didn't they?).  When I heard they were collaborating to release an EP together, to say the least I was a little giddy.  Then, they gave notice that the first single, "H.A.M.", was to be released on 1/11/11, I marked it on my calendar and did a little happy dance when my wife wasn't looking.  Tuesday was 1/11/11, I went to my favorite music blog (2DopeBoyz) to download and listen to it, and I couldn't even listen to it all the way through...it was that bad.  What happened?  This was supposed to be colossal, monumental. It was supposed to be like getting to see Muhammad Ali circa 1968 box Mike Tyson circa 1987, or Michael Jordan in his prime play one-on-one against LeBron in his prime.  It was more like going to a supposed All-Stars of Comedy showcase and finding out the headliners were Carrot Top, Gallagher, and Dane Cook...disappointing. 

Maybe I didn't give it a chance, so I listened to it again with an open mind, I was able to find some good qualities within it, but it still seemed forced.  Maybe they tried too hard.  Jay and 'Ye have worked together several times before and it was magical.  A few months back they released "The Joy" produced by the legendary Pete Rock...that's what a Jay-Z/Kanye West collabo is supposed to sound like.  Maybe its just me, but just in case its not, take a listen for yourself and tell me what you think.


Kanye West & Jay-Z - "H.A.M."

This Is What I'm Supposed To Do, Right?

Pay no attention to the headline picture, I just Googled my title to try and find some literary inspiration, and I got this photo of racist eggs. Week 2, Day 1 of winter term here at NCC.  I hate the winter term.  It seems to last the longest of all the terms, even though I am sure spring term will last the longest this year since I am graduating in June.  Anyway, this is my fourth post on my SPC 260 blog (I wonder how many more posts before I stop counting?) and I really don't know what to write about, so I decided to just sign on and type until I get somewhere. 

I still have nothing, so I guess I will introduce the blogosphere to me.  My name is Jonathan (Jon) Powell.  I am 31 years old, so I am not your typical college student.  I returned to the world of academia in 2006 after taking a "semester" off in 1999.  During that time off from school, I managed to live in Chicago, New Orleans, and California (not in a major city in Cali, so I'll just say Bay Area); I became a father to a beautiful girl named Olivia, and met the woman who I would eventually marry this past summer.  Currently I am studying broadcast communications here at NCC.  People always ask me what I want to do with my degree when I am done, and I really have no idea.  Its not that I have no idea, its the fact that I am realistic I guess, meaning that the obvious answer would be "get on TV" (that's not too hard nowadays, look at the Kardashians), but in reality on screen talent is a small percentage of the workforce in this field.  My real answer would be "whatever gets my foot in the door and gets me paid, quickly!" I'm not picky, in fact if anybody reading this has any connections, hook a classmate up!  In all honesty, my main goal is to be my own boss one day, and own a production company that different companies and businesses come to extend there vision in all forms of media to the rest of the world.

Wow, I think this post got a little out of hand, so I think I'm going to stop now...till next time my friends.

Fred First Interview

Well respected blogger, Fred First, was interviewed in May of 2006 by Rebecca Blood, about many subjects including the origins of his personal blog.  His interview basically confirmed my beliefs on why people blog, which is a sort of personal therapy session.  First said his blog allowed him to release frustrations that were being built up during difficult times in his life.  Also, as a follower of blogs myself, I agree with First when he says there should be more interaction between bloggers on their blogs.  I see a lot of blogs that have 50 plus blogs listed on their blog roll, but no comments on posts from these bloggers and vice versa.  Hopefully, I will not be a hypocrite and comment on as many of my classmates' blogs as I can...only time will tell.

Rap It Up

One of things I look forward to each new year is Virgina hip-hop artist, Skillz, annual recap of the year's events.  They are always well done, and catch some the most ridiculous moments of the year.  Think of it as a likeable 5 minute version of VH-1's "I Love..." series (and less annoying).  2010's was good, but 2008 still is my favorite.  Don't take my word for it, listen for yourself.

Skillz has been doing this since 2002, here's links to hear the other ones from 2002 - 2009, pick your favorite year, click and enjoy.

• 2002
• 2003
• 2004
• 2005
• 2006
• 2007
• 2008
• 2009

Initial Thought

Here it goes, first post...hope it's creative enough.  Here's my first link too.